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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Baskets of Yarn.....or as my sweetie would call it, my crack house. I don't condone the use of illegal drugs in any sense and not that yarn is some kind of illegal drug, but it is definitely worth noting that if yarn were meth....I would have no teeth. It's just that simple. A few weeks ago, I was looking through my friends projects on ravelry.com to see what everyone was working on and looking for some new ideas for projects, and I came across a patter called the Braided Pioneer Scarf. The first time I saw it I was lovestruck. This is one of the coolest scarves I have ever seen, I swear, and I have seen lots of cool scarves. I had to make it. So, I got some beautiful blue and purple yarn that didn't have a destination yet, and decided this would be a great project. Well, I downloaded the pattern and got started and and first 36 rows were easy peasey. Then I got to the set up row for the braid. Suddenly I was a knitting invalid. I could not figure this pattern out. I tried it on some practice yarn and still wasn't getting it. I set it aside and made a lovely brioche scarf for my mom for Christmas, and knitted 3 sweaters for Daniel. Fast forward a few weeks to black Friday. I'm not a big black Friday shopper. My dad is and plenty of my friends love going out to stores at ridiculous hours in search of the perfect present at the perfect price, but I'm content to sleep in and pay the extra few dollars for the gifts I want to buy. This year there was a sale that I wasn't going to miss for anything, though, and that was the stash buster sale at Baskets of Yarn. I see Judy, the shop's owner almost more than I see my mother, and for those of you who know me well, I see my mom a lot. I got to the store at about 9:30, a whole half hour after the sale started! I was delayed by having to drop off an Avon brochure to a lady with a mustache and 3 teeth. Yes, that would only happen to me. So anyways, I got to Baskets of Yarn and the store was pretty full with members of the guild looking for good buys to add to their stashes. I was just browsing around and doing some brainstorming about what I might like to make next, when I saw the beautiful Braided Pioneer scarf that I had fallen in love with. I picked it up and felt like I was in the presence of a celebrity. I was touching it! This scarf was made with Plymouth Yarn Boku and the colors were deep and rich and I was in love again. I picked up 3 skeins and put them in my basket. In the end, I only ended up spending $45.00. I was quite proud of myself. I wanted to get right to work on the Pioneer scarf and I was clipping right along with it when I ran into a snag. I did a short row where I should have finished the row out and I ended up with a very odd shaped scarf. I decided not to be a hero, so I took it to the shop and Judy looked at it and right away saw where I had made my mistake. She helped me get back on track and I am hoping that I will be able to give it away for a gift this Christmas.

I have noticed that my knitting is a comforting balm not only to my soul, but to Daniel's. Every afternoon we do the same thing. I turn on the DVR to watch The Young and the Restless, Daniel rests his head on my shoulder until he is fast asleep, and I lay him down on the couch with his Elmo blanket where his little fit are always propped on my leg. When he stirs, he lifts his head up and listens for a few minutes in silence and when he hears the click of my knitting needles, he lays back down and is back to sleep. What better reason to knit than to lull a baby to sleep? It's practical and useful in many ways!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

The last several times that I have indulged my knitting addiction at Baskets of Yarn, I have admired this super cute baby sweater that Judy knitted up. It's a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern (#211) and every time I go to the shop, I walk directly to the sweater and touch it and examine the stitches and finally on Saturday, I decided enough is enough. It's time to make it. So, I bought three skeins of the wool that I will need to make it and I finally just bought the pattern as well. I'm very excited to get started on it, but first I am going to work hard to finish the feather and fan shawl that I have been working on for the last week. It's coming along really well but I still have a ways to go. It's nice to sit down at night with a diet root beer and some quiet time and work and watch this lacy shawl grow. I think about who will get it. Maybe someone I love. Maybe someone I don't know. I haven't decided yet but what I do know is that I love the yarn's color. It isn't the softest yarn I have ever used, so when I make another one I will probably go with I love this yarn from Hobby Lobby, or maybe even Caron Simply Soft. All in good time I'll figure it out. Now though, I need to take my comforter to be cleaned and then go to Mom and Dad's for homemade chili. Sounds like an A-okay day to me!